Feels Thrilled, Excited During Sexual Intercourse by Family Structure and Religious Practice

The 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey shows that, of adults aged 18 to 59, those in intact marriages who worshipped weekly were most likely to report feeling thrilled and excited during intercourse with their current sexual partner. [1]

Family Structure: Those in always-intact marriages were most likely (91.3 percent) to report feeling thrilled and excited during intercourse with their current sexual partner, followed by those who were divorced and remarried (88.9 percent), those who were always single (82.7 percent), and those who were divorced or separated (81.8 percent).

Religious Practice: Those who worshipped weekly at the time of the survey were most likely to report feeling thrilled and excited during intercourse with their current sexual partner (91.7 percent), followed by those who worshipped less than weekly but at least monthly (89.1 percent), those who worshipped less than monthly (87.2 percent), and those who never worshipped (84.6 percent).

Family Structure and Religious Practice Combined: Those in intact marriages who worshipped weekly (93.7 percent) were most likely to report feeling thrilled and excited during intercourse with their current sexual partner. Those in non-intact family structures and singles who worshipped weekly (87.2 percent), those in intact marriages who never worshipped (85.2 percent), and those in non-intact family structures and singles who never worshipped (83.1 percent) were less likely to feel thrilled and excited.

Related Insights from Other Studies: Married men and women report the most sexual pleasure and fulfillment[2] and have more enjoyable sexual intercourse more often.[3] Among healthy senior citizens aged 80 to 102, married men and women are more likely to engage in and enjoy sexual activity and intercourse.[4] Very religious women report greater satisfaction in sexual intercourse with their husbands than do moderately religious or non-religious women.[5]

[1] These charts draw on data collected by the 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey